Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple, and Microsoft (GAFAM) spent $2.4B in 2021 fending off cyber-attacks. And as per a recent tradingplatforms.com analysis, this expenditure is about to more than double following Google’s acquisition of cybersecurity outfit Mandiant for $5.4B.
“Cyber threats have grown by leaps and bounds as businesses embrace remote working,” says tradingplatforms.com’s Edith Reads. She adds, “So far, the GAFAM firms have succeeded in fending off most cyber-attacks. But the dangers still lurk and grow larger every day. If anything, the recent SolarWinds attack shows how vulnerable organizations can be to a complex cyberattack. That informs Google’s push.”
The SolarWinds’ influence
Google’s acquisition of Mandiant is a shot in the arm for the company. Before, it had lagged behind Microsoft and Amazon in cloud-based cybersecurity solutions.
This acquisition will enable it to reduce its time to respond to and contain cyber threats.
Mandiat will enhance Google’s competitiveness
Mandiant is a renowned threat intelligence provider that tracks nefarious cyber activity by state actors, individuals, and gangs. It has a close working relationship with the American government. It played a critical role in investigations on the Colonial Pipeline hack. In 2020 it exposed the SolarWinds hack, a cyber-espionage campaign by Russia on the US.
Its acquisition will enable Google to match Microsoft’s cloud services capabilities. The latter has an established threat intelligence unit. Moreover, it acquired several cyber security outfits such as ReFirm labs and RiskIQ. Analysts insist that the acquisition is defensive and strategic as it’ll help Google compete better against Microsoft Azure and AWS.
